Breaking Away
by Jobes
Summary: Still trying to cope with scars left by their family's death, Chris and Wyatt find themselves face to face with a new generation of Halliwells and a deep secret about Chris's past and future. Can Wyatt keep Chris from falling, in the midst of everything?
1. Chapter 1

Hey kiddos, haven't written much for a while and thought I'd start back again with something that will hopefully turn out to be interesting. Enjoy! (Reviews are fun too!)

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Disclaimer: I own NOTHING relating directly to Charmed except for the made up stuff. By me. Yea….

Setting: Um... let's see... the setting… Well, this will be in the future after Chris had gone back and changed it from bad to yay, but of course the characters won't have much recollection of the past and everything since it _is_ the new future. So good future! Kind of… Hm... I suppose you could almost just call it an alternate reality since there won't be too many references to any particular Charmed events anyway or maybe there will be… hm… ah… well let's just get on with it and see what happens then

Oh yea. Chris is about 19 and Wyatt 21.

Enough rambling. Here we go.

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_**Breaking Away**_

_He groped through the infinite darkness towards the luminous, ethereal being standing in the distance. _

"_Mom!" Chris gasped out, the words barely escaping his mouth. _

_He reached both arms out, but his efforts were fruitless. It seemed that no matter how much closer he thought he was getting, the distance between them stayed constant, sometimes growing ever so slightly. _

_As he continued aimlessly in the dark, he noticed the somber expression painted across his mother's glowing face. He suddenly halted as a swirl of lights appeared behind her and could barely contain himself when his father came into view. They were shortly joined by his two aunts, Phoebe and Paige. The four of them waved with an air of despair about them. _

_Chris couldn't go on anymore. His legs felt like lead and his burning tears were threatening to burst forth at any moment. He looked up at his father, his mother, and his aunts. This was goodbye. This was the end of the ones that had taken care of him for so long. This was his family. And he had to watch them disappear. _

_In a subtle fountain of white lights, the four of them evaporated. Just like that, leaving Chris alone in the eternal darkness. Alone… _

"_Chris… hey Chris…" _

_No, he wasn't alone…not anymore. He had Wyatt and if he somehow lost him, too, there would be no way he could go on any longer. He started running again towards the voice, running until the darkness began to dissipate… _

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Sunlight streamed in from the window across from his bed, causing rays of light to dance across Chris's tired eyes. The tiny bursts of sunshine were making it hard for him to fully open them. His stomach was aching slightly, probably from the distant pains of his dreams. He rolled over onto his side, groaning deeply as he tried to pry open his emerald green eyes. As his vision cleared up, he jumped slightly, staring into the warm, brown eyes of his brother Wyatt. A look of concern was evident in the way his brows were slightly scrunched together.

"Hey Chris," he said, gently rocking his little brother's shoulders. "You okay, bro? You were tossin' around and sweating quite a bit when I came to check on you."

Chris groggily mumbled in reply, sitting up on his elbows and wiping his hands across his eyes.

"Yea… yea, I'm fine, Wy," he sighed and managed a sleepy grin. His older sibling smiled and pushed him back down onto the bed. His smile quickly faltered, though.

"Was it one of… those again?" Wyatt asked, ever so slightly raising one of his eyes.

"It… it was nothing. I'm fine now. Really," Chris said with a finality to his tone.

"Alright… Just making sure, kid." An edge of worry still streaked his voice as he got up and walked out of the room. "By the way, breakfast's on the table." Chris stared at the door, puzzled. Wy was never one to cook breakfast for the two of them in the morning. He looked over at the clock next to his bed. Especially not at eight in the morning.

Chris groaned and slowly maneuvered himself out of the tangle of blankets. He stood up, letting out a loud yawn and quickly got dressed into a somewhat clean shirt and a pair of jeans. Looking at the small mirror on the wall, he fixed his sandy brown hair as best as he could. Rubbing his eyes once more, he surveyed his dwelling and sighed at the sight of it.

It was a fairly spacious room, in terms of being able to fit a twin size bed and still have a few feet of space left to walk in. There was an oak dresser sitting in the far right corner with clothes, whether they were dirty or not it was hard to tell, spilling out onto the floor. The walls were a pale green and in pretty good condition, having lasted for a couple of years without the wallpaper peeling off. He took a few steps towards his bedside table and grabbed his watch. Stretching and yawning again, he stepped out into the kitchen/living room/storage room/guest room of him and Wyatt's apartment, softy shutting the door behind him.

This much larger room had a nice, homey feeling to it. Half of it was carpeted while the other half was covered with wooden tiles. A TV set sat on top of a stool across from a nicely worn couch in the "living room" section of the place. In the back corner, or rather section, was where all their junk and random appliances were settled. On the opposite corner off the carpet stood a refrigerator, counter, sink, and microwave, all crammed in an oddly not-so-crammed fashion. In the middle of the room was a small wooden table with two seats on each of the opposite ends, one already being occupied by his 21 year old brother, Wyatt, staring off into the distance while slowly chomping down on a piece of toast. Chris glanced at the plate set in front of his own seat and smirked at the two slices of bread. So much for a gourmet breakfast.

It had been three years since the two brothers had moved out of the Halliwell manor… Three years since the death of their parents, their aunts… their family. Demon attacks had been few and far-between (well, fewer compared to before) for the past 15 or so years. It seemed that for a while, the family could live as normal of a life as they could ever have wished for, with the occasional darklighter or warlock popping in maybe once or twice every few weeks. That's why that moment, almost exactly three years ago, came as such a shock to both Chris and Wyatt. It was a time that neither of them was ready to remember or confront. In truth, each one of the sons often experienced sickening pangs of wondering why they couldn't have saved them. Both of the boys had extraordinary powers, so it wasn't as if they had lacked the skills to do it. It was just… the way things happened. Chris had grown up hearing the phrase "Everything happens for a reason," but believing it had been entirely too difficult. But they had coped. They still had each other, and neither of them was ready, or would ever be ready, to lose one another.

On top of having to deal with the loss of basically all that they loved, they nearly lost the manor. There was no way to keep it. They lacked all the formalities and more importantly, the money. Chris and Wyatt both knew about the magical wells that lived within the house and couldn't let just anyone take it away from then, especially with the chance of it ending up in the wrong hands. Fortunately, the Elders were aware of the situation and under the circumstances and all that they had been through, they told the boys that they'd deal with it. It seemed strangely a bit like a cop-out to the two of them; it shouldn't have been taken care of so easily, but they hadn't been in the mood to argue or understand.

So here they were, three years later, having scraped up what was left of their savings to buy their own little apartment in the poorer part of San Francisco. They hadn't worried too much about demon attacks, since the two of them were pretty much thrown off the radar after the… incident. Wyatt had just finished high school at that time and had been able to get a job to support the two of them the best that he could. And today, it seemed that things had gone full circle.

"I've got a job interview at nine," Wyatt said, interrupting Chris from his reverie, "in case you were wondering why I got up so early and made you… tada! Breakfast!" He gestured happily toward the plate opposite of him. Chris couldn't help but grin and shake his head.

Wyatt had most recently lost his old job as a waiter at a local restaurant, due to… of course… an unfortunately timed demon sighting. So here he was, trying to get back on track. Luckily, he had done pretty well for the past few years, earning quite a bit in tips due to his charming personality and naturally good looks.

"Well, let's hope that nothing happens that results in you blowing up your new boss," Chris joked.

"Ah… who knows, maybe he would have turned out to be the next source of all evil." He looked down at his plate and let out a soft laugh. "I wouldn't have been too surprised though. You know, everything happens for a reason." Chris looked up at him with a quizzical laugh.

"Where'd you get that from? A fortune cookie?" However, Chris immediately knew what his next words would be and inwardly cringed.

"No… from mom."

At this, the two of them looked at each other, smiles suddenly gone. After a few, long seconds, Wyatt broke eye contact and looked back down, continuing to observe the remains of his breakfast. Chris forced a weak grin.

"Naturally."

_It's been three years, _Chris thought to himself. _It's time to move on. _

But it was hard to even follow his own advice. Ever since their deaths, he would occasionally find himself lost in one of his routine nightmares, constantly watching his family fade away. These constant reminders only made it harder to let go. In the middle of these nights, he would wake up, panting, on the edge of tears. These nightmares concerned Wyatt, who had since then discovered a new found love and protectiveness for his baby brother, though they were only two years apart. He would often find Chris, whimpering and tossing and turning, and couldn't help but worry. Chris never divulged the topic of these dreams, however. He couldn't bring himself to actually formulate concrete words that described the situation to his brother. He couldn't cause Wyatt anymore grief and stress. And as brothers and best friends, it was hard keeping all these jumbled up visions and feelings from him.

But they were okay now. They had made it through, taking the days as they came. Chris had finished high school not too long ago and had gotten a job as an assistant at a local doctor's office. They lived their lives as normal, albeit a few vanquishes from time to time, young adults, out on their own.

"Anyway, I'm about to head out in a few," Wyatt said while getting up and putting his plate into the sink. "Doing anything exciting today?"

"Ah… nah, I'm just gonna stop by the office and see if they need anything. If not, I'll probably just come back home, you know, orb around, find my purpose in life."

Wyatt rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. Ever since they had moved their lives seemed to take a turn towards monotony. They'd wake up, go to work or school, come home, vanquish the occasional demon, go to sleep, and repeat. Intermittently they'd usually get paid. It really did seem like life had lost a bit of purpose and Wyatt, to be honest, understood exactly how Chris felt.

"Well, go out and uh… How about you make some friends? Then maybe you could stop hermitting around the house."

"What are you talking about? I can't have friends, remember? I'm 'gifted.'"

At one point, that line really did reflect his true feelings. Because of all that he had to live with, Chris had hardly ever gotten to make friends besides those of the magical community. But he'd gotten use to that fact by now. He never once regretted being able to telepathically throw a demon across the room or instantly get from one end of the world to another. There just seemed to be a lack of company these days…

Wyatt shot him a look that clearly read _don't be like that_, but realizing that Chris wasn't being too serious about it, let it go.

"Alright, well, we'll go do somethin' later when I get back."

"Cool! It was about time we broke out of the old routine!" Chris put on a look of mock excitement. Wyatt just shook his head, trying to suppress the grin that was pulling at his face.

"Okay, well I'm gone-" Before the words could complete their flow from his mouth, a blast of light radiated from behind Chris, shooting out from his room's closed door. The two were suddenly blinded as a gust of wind blew the door open. Wyatt stared, shielding his eyes as two figured stepped out of the fading illumination. Chris's eyes grew wide as the newcomers took account of their surroundings, brushing the dust off their shoulders.

"Oh lord."

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Ah… Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that first installment! As I'm sure most of you noticed, this was more like a set up chapter, not really getting down to the main plot or anything. I will be the first to say that I'm absolutely no good at background and setting details (though I felt that they'd be a bit necessary) and getting into the story takes me a while. But whether you loved it or hated it, reviewww! It'll make my heart content no matter what Stick around for the rest! Thanks guys.

PS: I'm quite the master of cheese. If you catch my drift. Bear with me.

-J.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! They actually do motivate me a lot to write more haha. Okay… so I am ashamed to admit that I've been basically winging this story. I wasn't planning on really doing much with it, but I thought, hey why not, this could be interesting. If it seems jerky at parts, you'll know why, but after a while I'll be going back and smoothing everything out. Enjoy installment number two! Yay…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything CHARMED related. I wish I did though, cause that'd be pretty cool. Well… maybe not own them… but I just wish that these characters were actually real and that you know all that magic stuff was real and it'd be cool, and none of this is relevant to owning Charmed, so I'll just stop now.

I'm fond of rambling.

Yea…

Darn.

Oh yea, there may be a bit of language in here, but it shouldn't be anything you guys can't handle.

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_**Recurring**_

Chris slowly lowered his hands from his eyes as he realized that two teenage boys, not a great deal younger than he was, had suddenly stepped into their apartment. He looked the both of them up and down, quickly scanning their faces and features. They both resembled one another in a way and both seemed quite a bit familiar to him. Chris's eyes widened as speculation and realization dawned on him.

"Oh lord."

As soon as he opened his mouth, the taller "guest" raised his hand. Before he knew what was happening, Chris felt a sickening blast hit his chest, sending him flying backwards over the kitchen table and towards his older brother.

"Chris!" Wyatt yelled, shooting his left arm out to catch Chris before he could crash into the counter. He grabbed him by the back of his shirt, pulling him towards himself. Chris groaned as he struggled to regain his balance and leaned wearily against Wyatt's shoulder, suddenly out of breath.

"Rainy! What the hell are you doing?"

"I was just wavin' hello, not trying to-"

"Blow your uncle up! Cause, yea that's exactly what you-"

"JEEZ! I'm sorry _Michael_. I was just excited to see them…"

"You know you just developed that power a few weeks ago! You shouldn't be getting too excited about anything!"

Chris and Wyatt stared in wonderment and confusion at the two bickering teens. The two younger boys seemed to notice this and both turned to face them, crooked smiles plastered across their faces.

"What the-" Wyatt began to mutter, but was soon cut off by the boy standing on the right.

"Please don't say hell. I get that enough from this guy without having to have my dad join in on it," he grumbled, glaring at the other kid.

"Where'd you guys com-" Chris began to ask but was quickly interrupted by his brother.

"Whoa… whoa… wait a second. Did you just say... dad?" Wyatt said, his eyes filled with disbelief as he turned to look at Chris. The one on the left took a step forward, shaking his head but grinning from ear to ear.

"Sorry, about that, we never formally introduced ourselves." He grabbed his friend, pulling him forwards to where he now stood. "My name is Michael, or Mikey, Halliwell and this is my brother _Ranoldo_. Pleased to meet you, dad." Mikey grabbed Wyatt's hand and shook it furiously, his face all smiles. "You should be happy to know that you still look as good as you do in the future." Wyatt was a bit taken aback at this and continued shaking hands with his… son?

Rainy was alternating between looking up at them and at the floor, his face not quite as happy his brothers. He looked up at Chris and managed to grin sheepishly.

"Hey, Uncle Chris... Sorry about accidentally blasting you earlier." Rainy quickly looked back down at his shoes, twiddling his thumbs behind his back. As shocked as he was at the awkwardness of the situation, Chris couldn't help but smile, moving off of Wyatt's protective shoulder and pulling a chair out from under the table. He sat down, propped his elbows up on his knees, and placed his chin in his hands. He looked back and forth between his two "nephews" trying to make sense of the situation.

"So you guys are Wyatt's kids, huh," Chris asked, a curious glint in his eyes. He had completely recovered from the earlier "accident" and had seemed to push his other morning worries to the back of his mind in the face of this peculiar event.

"Yup," the two brothers answered simultaneously. Wyatt looked skeptically from the boys, to his own brother, and back to the boys. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words formed. He closed his eyes and tried again.

"So… so… you guys are from the future then?" He asked, realizing the obviousness of his question before completing it.

"Yea! Unless you thought that you could possibly have two teenage kids at your age already," Mikey snickered, still quite bubbly from the excitement. Rainy seemed to have recovered a bit from his previous embarrassment as he nodded happily along with his brother. Wyatt was having trouble processing all of this. In fact, he couldn't even bring himself to think too hard about it since all he had had his mind on that morning was his job interview. His job interview…

_Shit_, he thought to himself as he glanced up at the clock, hanging on the wall next to the fridge. It read 9:15. It was strange how time seemed to have gone by so fast when really not much had happened. Well, not much was probably a bit of an understatement. He sighed and pulled the other chair out alongside Chris, sitting down and rubbing his eyes. He wasn't going to be making his interview at this point.

"I don't think I can deal with this right now…" he muttered under his breath, glancing over at his brother. Chris seemed intrigued by the situation, however. Time travel was always a big thing with him.

_Oh well, at least he seems to have found something new to occupy his so-called purposeless life, _Wyatt thought to himself, oblivious to the fact that his "sons" were already talking again.

"Well, you see it was actually an-"

"-accident, kind of like Rainy-"

"HEY!"

"-that we ended up here, since we were actually aiming for a bit further back, but-"

"-this genius over here accidentally sneezed as we were saying the last two lines of the spell, and so-"

"Hey! If you hadn't knocked over all that powdered toadstool then I wouldn't have-"

"Anyway, long story short, we ended up a bit closer than we had intended-"

"From the looks of it, we were nearly there…"

"But that's okay! Cause I was hoping we'd get to see just you guys in the past anyway, especially Uncle Chris since he had—Ouch!" Rainy rubbed his arms, wincing at the pain Mikey had induced by slapping him hard. Wyatt looked over at Chris. It was obvious that he had been pretty amused with the argument while Wyatt struggled to keep up, though still two steps behind. However, Chris's look of amusement was now slowly changing into a look of confusion. Wyatt hadn't been quick enough to catch what was going on.

"Since what?" Chris asked, slowly, his voice slightly quivering with fear. He had grown up with aunts that always accidentally almost let things slip and could tell that Mikey was trying to keep his brother from saying something potentially important.

"Since… since… well…" Mikey began, suddenly out of character, fidgeting and looking down at his shoes, imitating Rainy's earlier motions. Wyatt, too wrapped up in his own questions, came to his sons' rescue without realizing it.

"Wait, so if I'm the father of two kids, then that must mean that there's, or there will be, a mother, right?"

Mikey, relieved at the outlet, looked over at his brother with a look that clearly read _no shit, Sherlock._ Rainy stifled a chuckle as Mike turned back to his father.

"That is correct, sir. However, before you go on," he continued speaking with mock formality, "I must inform you that any questions about the fair maiden that is, in fact, our mother, cannot be answered by us." Wyatt looked up, wondering how his kid had seemed to acquire Chris's quality of being slightly sarcastic and annoying at times.

Chris seemed to let his previous question go for the moment. He'd have to ask them about that later, though.

"What? How come? You guys have basically divulged everything about yourselves to us already."

"Ah," Rainy spoke out, "but you are wrong, my dear father. We've only told you about how we got here and who we are. If we _had_ 'divulged everything' about ourselves, as you so put it, then we would have told you how I'm 16 years old-"

"-and I'm 16."

"We're basically twins."

"We _are_ twins…"

"My favorite color is green,"

"Mine's blue," Mikey added.

"Peanuts give me hives," Rainy continued.

"But he eats them anyway, since he loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,"

"Almost as much as Mikey likes pineapples though…"

"Mmm… pineapples, they're quite tasty, don't you think?"

"Uh," Chris was having trouble keeping up. Wyatt went back to shaking his head incredulously, beating himself up for starting the discussion.

"I also like long walks on the beach-"

"But I mean, who doesn't?"

"I just love strolling under the setting sun…"

"Especially with his favorite brother, since there's really nothing he can do without me." Mikey stated, turning to face his brother.

"Of course… You know I couldn't live without you…

"Really…?"

"You're my best friend!"

"Oh Rainy!"

"Mikey!"

"I love you!" The two brothers threw themselves into a long embrace, sobbing heavily into each other's arms. This was one of their silly antics that they always jumped into every time their fast talking mouths got started. They knew how it helped to get their onlookers minds off of things that they really didn't want to talk about, though.

Wyatt sat with his head in his hands. _How did I ever get myself into raising these crazy kids, twins even, in the future?_

Chris grinned over at his agonizing brother. As strange as it seemed, the two kids reminded him clearly of how he and Wyatt used to be a few years back right before… then. It was unmistakable how much they had changed in such a short amount of time from fun loving teenagers into self-sustaining adults. At this moment, Chris could only laugh at his older sibling. Wyatt groaned and looked up at the pair of boys, smirking with their arms across each other's shoulders.

"In other words," the two of them started, "future consequences." Their young father shook his head. _Of course_.

"So tell me again why you guys attempted to travel back in time?" Wyatt asked, hoping for a serious answer this time. If he had just known the response he was about to receive, he would have thought twice about asking the question. Rainy and his brother looked at each other, not thinking too much about what they were about to say.

"We were just looking for our grandparents."

The grin on Chris's faced disappeared in a second.

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Oh wow… so that was not one of my better works. Haha I hope I didn't disappointed anyone! I was trying something out while hopefully progressing through the story. As of now, I'm not sure where this is going, though there's a slight idea in my mind. Ah… well please review anyways! Haters can hate and lovers can love all they want! I like to read every kind of response. Any suggestions or criticism is welcome! You see… if I don't have enough motivation (in other words reviews) I might not be able to bring myself to write more… Thanks guys!

-J


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for all the reviews again guys! No matter how short, they do help to motivate me in writing the next chapter!. So, let's get on with it, straight to the story this time. I present to you. Part tres.

Disclaimer: I don't owned Charmed or any of its characters. I do own Mike(y) and Rainy though.

(I'm going to be prone to using Mike instead of Mikey more often because it seems to flow better with Rainy)

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_**Getting Past the Past**_

Mike and Rainy were a pair of jokesters from the very beginning. However, though they were twins, they were far from being identical, a fortunate thing for the rest of the world. Rainy stood about 6' 1" with dark, honey blond hair that fell across his hazel eyes in soft wisps. He was tall and lean and had an air of modest contentment about him. It was easy to just sit and relax in a comfortable silence in his presence. Mikey on the other hand, being only 5' 10" had to make up for his shorter height with a "louder" personality, always poking fun at the world and especially at his brother. He was of the same lean figure, though a bit more built and his hair shone a sandy blonde color which, in the sunlight, fell across his bright eyes in golden waterfalls. They complimented each other perfectly and it wasn't surprising that they were the best of friends.

Journeying back to this time had in all truthfulness been an honest mistake. They weren't too disappointed by this miscalculation, though. It was nice seeing their father and uncle in their prime. The two brothers looked up as their father continued his interrogation.

"So tell me again why you guys attempted to travel back in time?" Wyatt inquired.

Rainy smiled inwardly, silently laughing at his father's exasperation. They were used to playfully pushing his buttons and were basically getting a head start at this point. He heard Mike open his mouth and quickly joined in on the response.

"We were just looking for our grandparents."

The twins grinned at each other, expecting their audience to shake their heads knowingly as they often had in the future. Ever since they were little, the duo had bugged Wyatt into letting them travel back in time, but he had always responded with a laugh and a "not now guys, you don't want to go digging up past memories." The truth was they _had wanted_ to go digging up past memories, except these "past memories" were more of a concern for Wyatt and Chris than they had been for the twins. The boys grew up hearing an assortment of magnificent stories about their grandparents, battling demons constantly while dealing with the more mundane aspects of life. It was obvious that they had never gotten to meet them, but they were never greatly upset by this. The lives of Piper, Leo, Phoebe, and Paige were immortalized in stories, pictures and tales from the past, and in their rebellious little minds, they knew that they'd be able to go back and meet them one day.

It was understandable that they were slightly surprised at the sudden looks of despair that flashed across both of their elders' faces. Chris's previously laughing disposition had suddenly grown solemn and dark, his eyes filling with grief. Wyatt had been looking down with saddened eyes at their Uncle Chris ever since they had completed their response.

Rainy was instantly uncomfortable. It took Mikey to a little longer to take in the sudden change of atmosphere, as if a switch from "happy" to "sad" had been flicked.

"Um…" Mikey mumbled quietly, getting too caught up in the uncomfortable silence. He took a small step backwards as Chris slowly rose from his seat, who managed a weak smile as he leaned slightly to the side, struggling to keep the grin on his face.

"You guys traveled back in time to visit your grandparents? I understand. They were a trip," Chris said, allowing a few forced laughs to escape the death grip of his drying throat.

"Yea, that's what we've heard from you guys," Rainy said softly, letting out a nervous chuckle. He was unsure about the whole situation. _If only if I hadn't knocked over the toadstool, _he muttered to himself. He'd never seen his uncle behave like this. Well, he never really had much of a chance to see his uncle behave like this now that he thought about it…

Wyatt, as if coming out of a trance, broke his gaze away from Chris and walked heavily towards his sons, his eyes deeply troubled and preoccupied.

"Hey, could… would you guys want to maybe go out for a bit? Explore the past a little, I'm sure that's what you guys wanted to do anyway." He spoke gently in an almost unrecognizable voice. Mikey looked over at his brother and nodded his head. Rainy understood immediately. Though he didn't know it at the moment, Wyatt always spoke in a softer and gentler tone to them whenever he wanted them "occupied" for whatever reasons.

"Alrighty, Sir!" Mikey said, saluting his father and turning towards the door which he presumed to be the exit. Rainy silently mouthed _we'll be back in a bit _and followed him out of the room. As they were walking out the door, a sudden impulse flew from Wyatt's mouth.

"And be careful… Remember where you guys are so don't do anything stupid!"

"Aye captain," Rainy said, letting out a soft laugh as he shut the door behind them. Wyatt was well on his way to becoming a father.

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It took Chris a while to realize that someone was shaking him, a subtle movement from his shoulder caused by his older brother. Those naively spoken words were all he could think about. _We were just looking for our grandparents._ It was like any other nightmare. It was nothing lethal, nothing devastating, but a constant reminder. A reminder. That was all. Chris couldn't help but laugh at himself for reacting like this to as simple statement made to answer a simple question. He laughed again. _Why am I acting like this? I'm supposed to be over this, moving on._ But he knew he couldn't. He couldn't move on. He was never able to with those occasional nightmares. Except those _occasional_ nightmares were just the ones that Wyatt knew about. Chris's nightmares were constant…

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Wyatt gently shook his little brother again, his baby brother, the most important person left in his life. Chris's eyes were slightly glazed over, a stupefied expression plastered on his face ever since the twins had exited the building. In the back of his mind, Wyatt worried that maybe sending off his two 16 year olds from the future into present day San Francisco wasn't the brightest idea in the world, but he'd deal with that later.

"Chris…" Wyatt whispered.

Every seemingly forced laugh that came out of the younger Halliwell's throat caused a shock of pain to roll through Wyatt's body. It hurt him, seeing his brother so sad, so lost. Yet, as worried and concerned as he was, he could only partly understand.

The subject of their parents had been a touchy one ever since, even for Wyatt himself. But he had somewhat moved on, knowing that what happened happened for a reason and all he could do was try to make the next day better for the world, for himself, and for Chris. However, he knew there was a part to this puzzle missing. Chris was holding something back. Something Wyatt wanted to know. Something he desperately needed to know.

_The nightmares_. Wyatt had known of a few of Chris's nightly mishaps, but had taken them for feverish dreams due to the stress of everything that had been going on. A normal phase. _But what if it's more than just that?_ He knew how Chris had been lucky enough (or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it) to have been bequeathed with the powers of premonition and empathy, much like his aunt Phoebe. Somehow, if his dreams were connected…if his nightmares were more than just nightmares… A realization slowly crept into Wyatt's mind. _I should have known, _he thought to himself, throwing the idea around.

"Chris," Wyatt said again, this time a little more forcibly. He shook his brother a little harder, finally pulling him out of the abyss he had seemingly fallen into. Chris looked up at Wyatt, his darkened eyes making contact, but it was too hard to hold as they began to tremble on the brink of watering. He broke off abruptly, stepped out of his brother's grip and looked down to the side, laughing sheepishly again. Wyatt could barely stand his brother's sorrow, his own brown eyes on the verge of tears of desperation, of longing to understand.

"Chris why won't you-"

"No…. I… I can't Wyatt," Chris muttered, almost inaudibly. Wyatt took a step towards his younger brother, but was greeted with a quick shuffle backwards. Chris looked up at his older brother, and noticed his hurt expression. He turned away again. It was too hard for him to look at Wyatt without wanting to spill his soul and to just explain everything. But he couldn't.

It was hard for him to explain why he couldn't just divulge these broiling emotions to the one person he trusted the most. _I've just… kept it inside for too long…_he thought, trying to understand himself. But he knew, partly, that it had to do with facing the reality of it. If all his fears were spoken, made real, it would mean that his parents really were dead, never to reappear. _Well, what made you think that they would?_ The sarcastic edge came as a shock to even himself.

"What's wrong with me…" Chris wondered out loud. The words came as a surprise to Wyatt, who was taken aback for a second.

"Chris…" It seemed to be the only thing that he could say at the moment. He was about to try taking a step towards him again, but refrained from doing so, afraid of the steps backwards his younger sibling might take.

Chris looked back up into his brother's eyes. _Today seemed to be the day for looking back and forth between eyes and floors, _he jokingly mused. He sighed softly, knowing that he had to say something. No. Knowing that he _wanted_ to say something, anything to keep from himself from blowing up or being consumed entirely.

"It's…" he started shakily as Wyatt gazed intently and discernibly into his soul. As if reading his older brother's mind, he completed the short statement with, "the nightmares."

Wyatt shut his eyes, scrunching up his eyebrows. _I knew it_, he grumbled inwardly. _I should have known… I should have known…_But as Chris's voice continued, his eyes flew back open.

"They won't stop, Wyatt! They just keep coming back… and they're there every night…" Chris was having a hard time keeping his voice from cracking. The words had broken free and he was finding it difficult to stop the flow.

"Every night_…_ _every night_ I have to see them go, and I can't… I can't do… I can't-" It was too much. The tone of his voice was shrill and trembling as he tried to keep everything from escaping._ I can't do anything about it._ The words flashed through his mind and his efforts became futile as the tears broke free, trails of despair beginning to stain his cheek.

Wyatt stood there, stunned. Words failed him. It wasn't long before the droplets forming at the corners of his eyes began to fall unnoticed. Forgetting his earlier inhibitions, he stepped forward towards his baby brother, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him tight. Chris could only fall into his brother's protective grasp as his tears continued their silent journey.

Wyatt placed his chin atop of Chris's head, one hand softly stroking the back of his brother's tussled hair. He closed his eyes and listened to him cry.

---------

Oh no… he's sad now guys! Ah…. Hope you guys enjoyed it! I tried to deal with the situation in the best way possible without it seeming too forced. Tell me how it went in… dun dun dun REVIEWS! Haha I love em. Honestly. I admit it. I'm addicted.

-J.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks again for the reviews guys! I feel like a broken record saying that every time, but thanks honestly. Moving on, sorry for the slooow update. I've been quite busy these past few weeks with some classes and stuff and it may be a bit longer till my next one too since I'll be out of town for a few weeks. But who knows, maybe I'll find some inspiration to write while I'm somewhere across the world…. Continuing on….

cdfe88: The main focus? laughs nervously Okay so I _had_ something in mind but the twins just had to go and ruin everything. cough Haha, but no worries. Trust me, it'll be moving towards the main plot soon after I get all my… um… "ideas" under control, which might take a while… oh well, we can just pretend that it's a collection of short stories that seem to relate to one another sequentially. Haha, I kid I kid… I hope.

Enjoy

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_**Forbearance**_

Wyatt sat half-asleep in a chair pulled in from the kitchen, sleepily watching Chris through dropping eyelids. He glanced over at the clock and sighed. 2:00. _What a half-day it's been,_ he sighed again, rubbing his left hand across his eyes. Sunlight was still pouring in through Chris's half-shut window blinds, the thin rays falling softly onto his dozing figure. He groaned softly and turned over, laying on his left side and facing his older brother.

Running his fingers through his untamed hair, Wyatt leaned back, returning to the events of the past hour or so….

------------------

_Chris's sobs began to lessen as he wiped his tears across his brother's sleeve. Wyatt, still holding him tightly, felt his little bro stirring and moving out of his firm grasp. He opened his eyes and felt a sudden sharp pain inside of him as his gaze fell upon Chris's tear stained face. The younger Halliwell stepped back and sat down. Placing his head in his hands, he let out a soft growl, noticeably shaking his head back and forth. _

"_God," he muttered. Wyatt wondered hopelessly what was going through his younger sibling's mind and continued playing the protective older brother role. _

"_Chris? You feeling okay?" It seemed to be an incredibly stupid thing to ask at the moment, but it was the only thing that Wyatt could come up with. He pulled up the other chair and turned to face Chris. The one in question looked up, his eyes slightly red and swollen. _

"_I just don't know what to do, Wy… I just don't know what to do…" He said, groaning agitatedly. "Here I was, ready to start another day when in comes these two interesting 'sons' of yours looking for… mom and dad… and suddenly, I'm faced with all this confusion. And now, looking back, it doesn't even seem like much of a big deal…like I'm making more out of something basically meaningless." _

_Wyatt just shook his head, staring straight into his brother's eyes. _

"_You know, if it makes you feel that way, then it _is_ a big deal." He stopped abruptly at the end of his sentence, realizing how cliché and 'motherly' his statement had been. Chris looked at him quizzically, and couldn't help but break into a slight grin. _

"_Right, Wy." Wyatt had to smile at the sight of his younger brother's small sign of cheerfulness. _

"_Anyway… I need to lie down for a bit, alright?" Chris stated, getting up and walking towards his bedroom. His brother wasn't as ready to let him go. _

"_But wait, Chris, what-"_

"_I just need to think about this, Wy," Chris said, cutting him off. He turned around to look at him. "And… thanks bro." He stepped into his room and simply fell onto his bed face first. _

_Wyatt was slightly stunned at these last few words, his insides a mixture of different emotions. He couldn't help but feel a bit of a growing disappointment. He had taken two steps forward and one step back in understanding the mess that his brother was in. _Oh well, it's something_, he said silently. He stood up and looked around the room. What on Earth was going on?_

_---------------_--

He had thought about going and retrieving his sons, seeing as how they had left a good three or four hours ago, but then decided to wait for Chris to wake up first and enlisting his company in getting them. So here he sat, patiently, albeit a bit tiredly, watching his brother sleep. _At least he looks peaceful_, Wyatt thought consolably. Unfortunately, his optimistic view was shortly shattered as Chris's breath began to come in short bursts, his chest heaving up and down.

"Oh, Jesus… not now," Wyatt mumbled as he got up and moved towards the bed.

-----------------

He was running, running like always. _Please, no… not again,_ Chris thought desperately. But he then realized that something was different. This wasn't like his regular nightmares that he had developed a special hatred towards. He commanded his legs to stop their movement and casually took in his surroundings.

He was standing in the midst of a monochromatic splendor. A concrete trail stretched out in front of him, bordered by towering oaks, swaying slightly in the wind, the afternoon sunlight shining through their branches. The Golden Gate bridge loomed majestically in the distance.

"Wait a minute, I know where this is…" Chris mumbled aloud. He was standing in the Golden Gate National Park, a common destination for summertime merriment in his past years. _But why am I here…?_ Realization dawned upon him as he suddenly felt the familiarity of having a premonition, but this time it seemed so much more real; he had control over his own motions.

"It's like a dream…" He uttered the words soundlessly. Without warning, out of the corner of his eyes and a few yards down the path, he saw something fly out of the brush, crashing into a thick oak on the other side of the trail. He turned towards the figure and stopped.

"Rainy?" His words were inaudible as he snapped out of his hesitation and began running towards his fallen nephew. Out of the mass of trees, another figure appeared. Mike ran over to his unconscious brother's side, a look of desperation and fear evident in his eyes. Chris's head spun to the right as a series of footsteps rang out from the woods. He slid to a stop as a two hooded figures, appearing to be demons, stepped out in front of him. The one on the right quickly formed an energy ball and fiercely threw it at the twins.

"Mikey!" Chris yelled out, but he knew he couldn't hear him. He tried rushing forward, but his feet were glued to the ground. Panic struck him as he realized that all he could do was witness his nephews' impending doom.

Mike's head snapped up towards the incoming energy ball and threw his left hand up, freezing the demon's weapon in mid air. Holding his brother in his right arm and with eyes brimming with tears of anger, he threw his arm out towards the demons, telekinetically sending them flying backwards towards Chris. The stunned uncle had only enough time to hold his arms up in front of him for protection before the hooded beings collided into him. At impact, it felt as though he was being pushed through a portal, a stretching, pulling sensation that caused him to spiral downwards. He opened his eyes and found himself staring back into Wyatt's.

---------------

Chris sat up in his bed and groaned, rolling his eyes at the similarity of the situation to just that morning.

"Chris?" Wyatt asked, cautiously. Chris was growing slightly agitated by the constant repetition of his name and waved his brother off.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm-" His eyes grew wide as he remembered the dream, or rather premonition, he has just witnessed. He jumped up and grabbed Wyatt by the arm, who seemed slightly bewildered at Chris's sudden sense of urgency.

"It's Rainy and Mikey! We gotta go!"

"Wait, What!" Before Wyatt could get a proper response, they had disappeared in a swirl of blue and white lights.

------------

Wow… just… Sorry guys, I can't get over how badly written that was. For some reason, I cant get into the gist of things and everything seems sooo roughly put together… and I know it was shorter than usual. Well, rest assured, I will be going back at the end and revising everything to sound and read _much much_ better. I'll be planning these next few weeks so the future chapters should flow more nicely. Hope you guys somewhat enjoyed it, even though I'll understand if you didn't. Reviews reviews reviews! Make me feel better about myself! Hahaha, I'd say I'm kidding, but then I'd be on the edge of lying.

-J.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, I'm back now and anxious to get some chapters out… somehow. Thanks for the reviews and advice guys, it's really nice to know that people enjoy what I've written. Anyway, here comes the next installment.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything directly related to charmed and such.

--------------------

_**Out**_

Having realized that most of the entertaining stores and places to hang out in San Francisco had yet to be built, Mike and Rainy thought that the park would be a more enjoyable place to be. It was an incredibly beautiful day, much brighter than the slightly polluted future. The twins walked the brush covered trail, staring up in awe at the purest version of San Francisco they had ever witnessed. Golden, honey glazed rays of sunlight splashed across the fiery autumn leaves, displaying a splendor of warm, welcoming shades. Sturdy oaks grew tall, standing guard of their precious environment.

The boys walked over to a wooden bench situated on the eastern edges of a small path that circled a gigantic oak. Mike took a seat while his brother stood admiring a family of citrus trees waving in the distance. The fruits radiated in the sunlight as they bobbed lazily in the win. Rainy's silky golden bangs calmly flowed in the soothing breeze as he sighed happily. He took a seat next to Mikey and the two of them silently turned to stare at the crimson giant looming in the distance. The sun reflected magically off the glossy Golden Gate bridge, the luminous sky and the iridescent waves creating an adequate background to the structure.

The brothers couldn't help but glare jealously at God's glorious painting.

"Well, this is so much better than our own Golden Gate National Park," Rainy stated, gazing in to the distant.

"Yeah…" mumbled Mike, "A lot better."

He was quietly content with having missed his mark in time traveling. It had given them a chance to experience a brighter aspect of the past, a time that wasn't as depressing as the one he had left. He sighed softly. He hadn't yet revealed their true intentions in trying to find their grandparents to their dad or uncle yet. But it wasn't like they had been given the chance to, being shooed out like flies.

He sat back against the bench and closed his eyes, trying to forget about what was currently going through his mind. Through his closed eyelids, he suddenly noticed something brightening the area. He opened his eyes and looked over at Rainy, who was staring with interest at a spot a few feet in front of them. A jingling caught his attention as a swirl of blue and white lights grew more intense, causing the two of them to rise to their feet. In less than a second, their uncle was stepping towards them.

"Mikey, Rainy, you guys okay?" He asked, gripping the two twins by their shoulders. Wyatt rushed after Chris, a franticly confused look on his face.

"You gonna tell me what's going on now or not?" He more so commanded than asked. He grabbed his younger brother's arm, turning him around to face him.

Chris replied slightly agitated, "Premonition."

"Oh." Wyatt let go, a bit surprised as his brother's attitude.

"It was kind of weird, though…" Chris said with a calmer _sorry about that_ tone, causing his sibling to look back at him with interest. "It seemed much realer than any of my other premonitions."

His nephews stood in the shade, slightly dumfounded and still unaware of what was going on.

"But it seems like you guys are okay right now," Chris said, taking a look around and squinting in the sunlight. He blinked a couple of times in the brightness. His eyes were still slightly red.

"Um," Rainy mumbled, looking around him, "yeah, I think we are…" He turned to look at Mike, seeing if his confusion would be reflected in his brother. He could see a curious gleam in his companion's eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Wait, we were in your premonition?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah," Chris said, recollecting his vision. "You two were being chased by some, I dunno, demon looking things. They were wearing some black hooded cloak or something." He tried to illustrate what he had seen with his hands, causing Mikey to cock his right eyebrow up in an_ umm…okay_ expression. Chris didn't take notice of it and continued on with a more serious tone.

"I don't know why they were after you, but you two were getting a serious beating."

The twins looked at each other, Rainy's face clearly surprised. They didn't like to brag, but in their time, they were pretty powerful compared to most of the other witches and demons in the area. It probably had something to do with being the sons of the twice blessed wonder-child Wyatt Halliwell. It was strange that anything in the past could have given them a "serious beating."

"Don't look so surprised," Chris said as if reading their minds. "Anyway, we should get you guys back to our apartment before anything happens. We need to continue our little chat anyway."

Wyatt, who had been standing quietly in the back, taking all of this in alongside the twins, nodded naturally, though he was still unsure of the situation. He was never one to fully grasp a concept in one go. Apparently this trait transferred over to his kids in the future.

Taking his brother by the shoulder as the four of them prepared to orb home, he noticed something strange out of the corner of his eyes. His eyes widened, as he turned into an oncoming, slightly different-from-normal-looking energy ball. Letting go of Chris he quickly threw his hands out in front of him, trying to form a force field in time, but the deadly projectile was flying too fast. It crashed into him at full force, pushing him back into the air.

"Wyatt!" Chris yelled as he turned to see his brother flying into the oak centerpiece.

"Uh oh, Mikey…" Rainy said as another energy ball came flying towards them. Chris, unsure of what to do with attacks coming from both sides, watched as his other nephew smirked and casually flicked his wrist, causing the attacking sphere to freeze in time. Seeing that the twins could fend for themselves for the moment, Chris ran over to where Wyatt lay cringing.

"Ouch," the fallen Halliwell muttered, rubbing the back of his head. His younger brother placed an arm around his back, helping him to his feet. The two brothers snapped their heads up as a distinct voice appeared behind them.

"What are they doing here…" a figure standing in the midst of the forest said, his voice not all too sinister. Another cloaked person stepped out from behind a tree and stared at Chris and Wyatt. The strangers' faces were hidden in the shadows of their hood, keeping their identity secret from the four Halliwell boys.

"Wait a minute, Rainy, doesn't that guy sound familiar to you?" Mike asked.

"Now that you mention it, he kind of sounds like- WHOA!" Before Rainy could complete his statement, another energy ball came flying, causing the twins to dive out of the way.

"We came to get what we needed and we're not leaving empty handed," the second cloaked figure said, stepping out of the woods. "I'll take care of these two. Get the twins and get out of here!" The other guy nodded and started towards the boys.

Chris called out to Mike and Rainy as the hooded enemy rushed towards him and Wyatt.

"Run!" He and Wyatt began sprinting down the trail, their attacker only steps behind them.

Watching their dad and uncle disappearing into the distance, Rainy turned nervously to look at the oncoming figure. He was in the way of their escape route.

"You got this, kid. Just blast him out of the way and we'll be home free," Mike said from his side.

"What! Why can't you just, you know, fling him out of the way?"

Mikey smirked and patted his brother on the back.

"'Cause I'm annoying and want to see what you can do."

Rainy grumbled at his brother's stubbornness and closed his eyes.

"Alright, let's see if this works."

With a flick of his hands, the bench they had been sitting on just minutes ago burst into splinters, causing the stranger to stop in his tracks. However, he started towards them again in a second, this time with an energy ball in his hands.

"Come on guys, I don't want to hurt you…" The hooded figure mumbled.

"Psh, yeah right," Mike said, letting out a nervous laugh. He tuned his voice down and whispered into Rainy's ear, "Kinda missed there, bud… and he's getting kind of close."

"Alright, alright! Jeez…"

The taller brother closed his eyes again and shot his hands out, this time, thankfully hitting his mark. The stranger spun sideways from the impact and hit the ground hard.

"Aha! Nice shot!"

Grabbing Rainy's sleeve, Mike led the two past the groaning figure on the floor and ran out into the trees. As Rainy ran past the stranger, he noticed an odd familiarity about the guy.

--------------------

Chris and Wyatt had been running through the fallen autumn leaves for only a few minutes when a sudden thought popped into the older siblings mind.

"Uh, hey Chris," Wyatt said in between breaths. "Why are we running from this one guy? The two of us should easily be able to beat him." His little brother smiled with an intellectual gleam in his eyes.

"Well, right now, we're just buying them time having to only deal with one bad guy, which I'm sure they can handle fine judging from what I've seen of their powers. Plus, you were plowed down by just one energy ball. Shouldn't it be clear that this guy's a bit stronger than you think?"

"Oh… right," Wyatt mumbled. Before he realized that he was being made fun of, he was pulled to a halt.

Chris turned around to face their adversary who skidded to a stop inches away from them. The young man with the piercing green eyes smiled and waved as he and Wyatt disappeared in a swirl of lights.

----------------------

Mike and Rainy stood panting, their heads down and hands rested against a tree.

"You think we got far enough away?" Rainy asked.

"Yeah, I think so. I don't know why we ran. We could have taken him," Mikey said with a mischievous smile.

"Well, Uncle Chris said-"

"Ah, it's just Uncle Chris. You know he's-"

"He's what?"

Mikey froze and turned to face Chris and Wyatt. His uncle stood there glaring down at him with arms crossed across his chest. Wyatt was silently laughing in the back.

"Er, you-you-you're, um, a good lookin' guy I must say," Mikey stuttered, slightly out of his normal quick witted character.

Wyatt couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the awkwardness of the situation. Here he was, having just escaped from some powerful enemy, watching his 16 year old future son complementing his brother on his looks. The previous dangers seemed to have dissipated from everyone's mind.

"Daaad, stop laughing at me," Mikey moaned. He turned to look at his brother who was cracking up beside him. "You shut up Rainy." The laughing twin put his arm around his brother's shoulder.

"You're just too cute," Rainy said in a mocking voice.

Chris's earlier scowl broke into a grin as he a placed hand on each of their shoulders.

"Let's get back, then." The three of them orbed out with Wyatt closely following, his laughs still audible in the wind.

----------------------

Walking heavily back up the trail, the stranger who had chased after Chris and Wyatt met back with his partner, who sat against the trunk of a tree. The one sitting down looked up at the approaching figure and sighed, pulling his hood down to reveal a head of bright copper hair and stunning hazel eyes.

"Uncle Wyatt sure knows how to raise some stubborn kids."

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TADA. Chapter 5 in all its glory. Sorry about the long wait guys, turns out I didn't have much time for writing these past few weeks. I'm happy to say I had loads of fun out of the states for a while though. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed and remember to review review review!

-J


	6. Chapter 6

Summer. It's great, isn't it? Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm trying to push some more excitement into the story, but I can't seem to get my ideas out onto paper. I have my basic outline and such all figured out, but just writing the in-betweens seem to be giving me a hard time. The reviews help motivate me, though, so thanks again! I know a lot of you have questions and I understand that this might be getting a bit confusing, but hopefully they'll be answered in the next few chapters, if not this one. Here's the next chapter kiddos.

Disclaimer: Me not the owner of Charmed

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_**Remembrance**_

"Uncle Wyatt sure knows how to raise some stubborn kids."

The other figure slowly lowered his own hood. He sat down next to his younger brother, propping his elbow onto his shoulder. He ran his hands tiredly through his soft, chestnut colored hair, repeatedly opening and closing his green eyes slowly.

"Yeah… but then, wouldn't that include us, Jace?"

Jason stared intently at his brother for a while before turning and leaning back against the tree.

"I suppose so… I suppose so…" His eyes glossed over slightly as he recalled the days events.

----------------

**(_Flashback… or flash-forward… or… whatever… time travel is tricky…)_**

_----------------_

"_Danny? What the hell are you doing?" Jason asked as he entered the attic of the Halliwell manor. _

_The elder sibling's neck snapped up, surprised at the sound of a voice. Upon seeing who the sound belonged to, he went back to stirring the contents of his bowl. _

"_What are you doing up, Jace?" He grumbled. "It's three in the morning. You should be sleeping-"_

"_Me! _You_ shouldn't be up right now either, let alone making potions!" _

_Danny set the stirring rod down, slightly agitated. _

"_Look, I don't know if you've realized, but Mike and Rainy are gone," he said. _

"…_What?" Jason took a step back in disbelief. _

"_Yeah, you know how they were saying they were gonna try going back in time, back to our grandparents? Well, guess what, they did. In fact, they just left half an hour ago, while Uncle Wyatt and Aunt Arin are still asleep." _

"_You mean they don't know yet?" _

"_No, and I don't think they will. The spell that I think they used makes it so time in the present passes by a lot slower than time in their destination. Of course, if you keep talking so loud, they'll probably wake up and basically eat us for doing this without telling them." _

_Jason blushed and toned his volume down. _

"_Sorry." _

_He walked over to Danny's side of the table, trying to sort out the information he had just received. _

"_So wait, why did they want to go back again? It wasn't so they could find out how to-" Jason inquired, but he was quickly interrupted. _

"_Yes. That's exactly why they went… which is why we need to get them back. They might think they know what they're doing, but if they make one wrong move all the way back then in our grandparent's time, they could accidentally wipe out our entire existence. Who knows what they'll try to change in the past..." _

"_Oh," Jace said quietly. His older brother looked over at his sullen face and placed a comforting hand on his head, ruffling his hair. _

"_I know you've heard Uncle Wyatt say it many times and… dad… even more times… back then." Danny's voice softened to a barely audible whisper. "Everything happens for a reason… They can't just go altering history, going and changing anything they want… not even death." _

_------------- _

_Wyatt had been successful in regaining the ownership of the Halliwell Manor after years of hard work. He had needed it too, not only for himself, but for his entire family. Arin first walked into his life as he bussed the dirty tables of a local restaurant. Luck so had it that she was also a young witch, trying to find her foothold in life. The typical romance scenario then took place, as the two magical beings fell in love and bore two children later in their life. _

_The apartment that he and Chris lived in became too overcrowded, with Chris's own two kids taking up most of the room. They decided that it was time they moved back, putting back the protective walls that had been their childhood for their own kids. _

_Chris had been struggling as a single parent. The mother of his children had died giving birth to their second son. The move back into the manor came as a welcoming relief to him, knowing that Jason and Danny would live a happier life there… even if their father was to disappear from their lives in the near future. It was strange, but Chris himself felt that his days were numbered. His intuitive side never let that feeling go, all the way to his death…_

_--------------_

"_Whatchu' got there?" Jason asked, pointing at the sheet of paper sitting beside the brewing pot. _

"_That's our spell to get to the twins. And this," Danny grinned at the two vials he had just filled up, "is a little somethin' somethin' to help us get them back." _

_Jace looked at the strangely colored liquids in confusion._

"_And they do… what?"_

"_This potion I made will temporarily give us both the ability to throw energy balls. We can't go using our own powers to get them back since they'll be able to recognize us. And you know Mike and Rainy, they'd never come back with us cooperatively." _

"_But wait," Jason said, anxious and concerned, "we're not going to be hurting them or anything, are we?" _

"_These energy balls shouldn't be able to hurt them that much… I think…" Danny blinked a couple of times and shrugged. "Oh well, they're strong. They can withstand it. Oh yea, put on this cloak too." He smiled and took two cloaks out from beneath the table, handing one to Jace along with a vial._

"_Put that on and drink this after we say the spell. It should last for a couple of hours, but hopefully we won't need it for that long…" Danny mumbled. _

_He grabbed the spell, holding it out so both of them could clearly read it, while Jason struggled into his hooded apparel. _

"_You ready?" He asked._

"_Wait, we're going now!" Jason exclaimed. _

_Suddenly, from downstairs a series of footsteps could be heard thumping rhythmically towards the attic. _

"_Boys? You up there?" Their uncle called groggily. _

_Clamping his brother's mouth shut, he whispered quietly. "Yea, we're going now." _

"_Through time and space and years gone past,_

_The place our cousins walked through last,_

_Take us there and then we ought,_

_To drop exactly on their spot."_

_Wyatt cracked open the door to an empty room. _

_---------------_

"_Shouldn't they be here?" Jason asked anxiously as the two brothers trudged through the abundance of leaves, weaving in and out between the trees. _

"_They should be… I sense them around here somewhere," Danny replied, casually glancing all around him. It was a beautiful place. It was pity that he didn't have the time and sit back and enjoy it. _

_As he continued leading through the forest, two familiar figures came into his view. _

"_Ah, there they are," he smiled, but quickly stopped in his tracks as he noticed two other strangers in the area, their backs turned to him. _

"_What are they doing here?" He wondered allowed. This wasn't making his job any easier. He had to get them out of the picture for now. He quickly threw an energy ball at the pair, causing one of them to fly backwards into a tree._

"_Oops… maybe these are a bit stronger than I thought," he silently mouthed to Jace. "We have to get them apart." _

_Danny threw another energy ball at the twins, but this time trying his hardest to tone down the strength of the projectile. Apparently it worked, seeing as how his cousin simply froze it with a slight flick of his wrist. He decided it was time to get serious and stepped out of the forest with Jason right beside him. _

"_We came to get what we needed and we're not leaving empty handed," Danny spoke out, but near the end of his statement, he felt his heart jump up into his throat. The two men had looked up at them briefly and it wasn't hard for him to recognize who they were: Uncle Wyatt and… "Dad," he gasped inaudibly. _

_Jace turned to look at him and mouthed a questioning "What?" _

_Frantically hoping that his younger brother hadn't noticed what he had, Danny tried diverting his attention, but his voice could hardly escape his drying throat. _

"_I'll take care of these two. Get the twins and get out of here!" He yelled hoarsely as he started running towards Chris and Wyatt. _

_His dad and uncle quickly scrambled to their feet, shouting "Run!" as they began sprinting down the path with Danny hot on their trail. _

_He didn't like leaving his fifteen year old brother to deal with their cousins, but he knew that seeing their dad wouldn't be good for him right now, at all. Plus, Jace had to deal with the pestering of their cousins constantly being the only person younger than them in the household. He'd manage. _

_He continued running after Chris and Wyatt, his heart wrenching with every step. Seeing his dad alive should have made him happy, but this scenario was anything but enjoyable. Silent tears brimmed at his eyes, flying into the back of his hood as he continued his chase. _

_He really had no idea why he was chasing them, actually. He had already succeeded in separating them from the twins. Not thinking things through and not really planning was a character flaw of his. He did things on a whim. _

_His mind didn't process the skidding of his feet until his face was only inches from his dads. His throat clenched up again in an instant as his own startling green eyes met Chris's. As his father waved, grinning, and began to orb away, he regained control of his legs and leapt forward, yelling "Wait!" _

_He fell through the orbs and onto his knees, surprised at the words that suddenly came out of his mouth. _

"_Don't leave me again." _

_--------------------------_----------------------------------------------------

DUN DUN DUNNNNNN. Yea, I know this chapter didn't really progress the main plot much, but I hope you still enjoyed it! I wanted to do a different point of view for this chapter. I'm kind of stumped on what to do next. Maybe some reviews will jog my train of thought, or I'll never be able to think of something…. cough

-J


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I've updated, but I've been swamped by being out of town and community service and work and a bunch of other stuff. So sorry for the long wait, but here's the next chapter! I hope that my skills have deteriorated in the past few weeks of none writing.. hm…

Oh and thanks so much for the reviews guys! Yea, seeing a recent review reminded me about this story and got me to continue it.

Disclaimer: I own none of the original charmed peoples.

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**Two Worlds Apart**

_I don't know where  
Confused about how as well  
Just know that these things will never change for us at all_

­-Snow Patrol

Jace sat in quiet contemplation as his bangs swept into the breeze like soft copper wires waving in the wind. He looked up at his older brother, whose eyes were closed and eyebrows slightly scrunched together.

"What now?" He asked.

Without opening his eyes, Danny placed a finger at his mouth indicating a need for silence.

"I'm trying to sense them right now. It's a bit harder doing it in the past than I thought it'd be—oh wait, I think I got them."

He turned a couple of paces with his eyes still shut until he had completed a full 360.

"There." He said, pointing east of their position. "They're in some apartment complex just a few miles from here."

"Let's get going then," Jace mumbled as he scrambled up from his comfortable position against the tree. He stretched his back for a few seconds. That last blow from Rainy had caused him to fall to the ground in a bad position. He would have been angry if he hadn't realized that his cousins had no way of knowing that he was... well… him.

"We might as well take off our cloaks," Danny suggested. "Doesn't seem like the disguise really helped us in any way. We'll probably be more convincing as ourselves."

Jace cocked his head to one side as he shed his cloak off.

"Why did we try to disguise ourselves in the first place?"

Danny just shook his head and let out a soft laugh.

"I have no idea."

As the two guys started down the trail with their cloaks floating away behind them, their appearance changed from menacing "demons" into two, normal All-American teenage boys. Both brothers were wearing worn down jeans and t-shirts; Danny's bright blue shirt portrayed a surfer and multitudes of palm trees while Jace's green tee sported a faded soccer ball.

The younger Halliwell walked with his hands in his pockets, silently counting each step. He looked up at his older brother, and as Danny's hair flew back in the wind, he noticed an unfamiliar moist, reddened looked in his emerald eyes.

"Hey bro, what's wrong?" He asked, his feet instinctively halting. Danny slowly kept his pace, seemingly ignoring the question. After taking a couple of more steps, he stopped and turned to look at his younger sibling.

"Uh…" All he wanted to say was, _Well, I finally got to see Dad for the first time since he died, but of course he didn't know who I was and completely left me again, even though in this time period he probably doesn't even know that I exist. _But of course, that probably wouldn't do any good in the current situation. Jace would eventually see their dad again anyway if his tracking was accurate. There was no point in causing any grief at the moment. He wasn't even sure if Jace had seen or even knew that their dad was alive where they were now.

"Nothing's wrong." He let out a nervous laugh and smiled, before turning back around and starting back down the trail.

Jace stood their, obviously unconvinced, but chose to drop it; he had been pretty happy at seeing his cousins. In reality, they'd been gone for a little more than two hours now, but it seemed more, or literally, like a lifetime. He wanted to know exactly what they were planning on doing in the past, and knew that the situation would probably be a bit more comfortable if they came as themselves and not as demonic hoodlums. He'd further inquire Danny at a later time. Strangely, he was brimming with excitement and couldn't wait to see Rainy's expression at realizing he had blasted his younger cousin.

Jace smirked mischievously and soon began running to catch up. After closing the few yards that had sprung up between them, he leapt into the air and onto his brother's back. Danny stumbled slightly at the sudden increase of weight, but, with a grin suddenly spreading across his face, he quickly grabbed hold of his brother's legs and placed them firmly around his waist.

"Woohoo!" Jace yelled with both arms wrapped tightly around his brother's neck as Danny broke into a steady run through the falling leaves.

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Mike peered cautiously and with suspicious eyes at Rainy, who sat with his head in his hands, thinking quietly. Across the table from them, Wyatt and Chris stared at the twins with sensing eyes. The tapping of Chris fingers echoed in the dainty kitchen and his grunts of impatience cut through the atmosphere. Wyatt watched as Rainy slowly reach his hand forward, hesitated, and then quickly withdrew. He rolled his eyes at his future son and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Come on, kid."

Rainy eyed his father, clearly annoyed.

"Fine… Go fish." He said after scanning his cards once more.

"Finally!" Mike yelled, throwing his hands up into the air and subsequently letting his cards fly all over the place.

Watching his nephew's cards fall, Chris sighed and with a flick of his wrist, sent everyone's cards shooting off the table into a neat pile in the corner.

"Come on guys, we should be doing something right now, like figuring out who those demons were," Chris said, getting up and picking the cards up.

"You're the one who told us to find something to do," Mikey retaliated, as he handed the case to his uncle.

"I meant something productive, not cards."

"Shoulda' been more specific," Mike grumbled. He stood up and walked over to the couch where he proceeded to fall, face down.

Rainy still sat quietly at the table, a slight frown on his face. His tussled blond hair fell over one eye, giving him a dazed and confused kind of look.

"You know, I could have gotten more pairs if I had just asked for a two…"

Wyatt looked at his son with an _are-you-serious _expression. Giving up on understanding his future kid, he groaned and laid his head down on the table. The entire day had been too confusing for him. He had no idea what they were doing or supposed to be doing.

_Let's see,_ Wyatt thought silently, _Rainy and Mike came from the future in hopes of seeing Mom and Dad, but messed up and ended up here, and then they left while me and Chris discussed the situation, and then we went looking for them, and then we got attacked, and then we came back, and then we played Go Fish._ _Now what?_

As if on cue, Chris's voice piped up from his bedroom. "I got an idea!"

"What…?" Wyatt asked, realizing that none of the boys were listening to their uncle.

"We're going to go back in time with them!"

"Er…what?" Mikey asked, shifting his position on the couch to look up at his uncle. "Um, why?"

Chris frowned as if the answer to the question was the most obvious thing in the world.

"To help you guys do whatever it is you wanted to do," he said. He looked over at Wyatt and noticed that familiar concerned look. His older brother's eyes were worried, as if to say _you sure you'll be okay with that?_ Recalling his earlier breakdown, Chris sighed, understanding Wyatt's concern. But it was about time that he got over it, right? It's what he'd been telling himself for the past few months, though he never really got through to himself. Seeing his parents alive once more might do him some good. Strange. He felt like he was contradicting himself constantly.

"Um, what we wanted… to do?" Rainy had finally snapped out of his card playing mode and looked nervously over at his brother. Mike put a finger to his lips and made a zipping motion across his mouth.

"Yeah," Chris replied, looking suspiciously between the two of them. "Speaking of which, you never _really_ told us why you wanted to see your grandparents…"

As cliché as it might have been, the door bell suddenly rang, causing Mikey to sigh and push his face back down into the pillows in relief. Chris and Wyatt snapped their heads sideways and stared intently at the door as it creaked open.

"Hello? Sorry, the door was open."

Rainy's eyes widened and his lips began to twitch into a smile as a head of bright copper hair peered nervously into the apartment room.

"I knew it!"

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Sorry for the short chapter guys. I was working on this and then typing a formal essay for my English class at the same time, so if it seems kind of iffy, that's why. Yeah, I know this wasn't very exciting, and I don't think it flowed very well. I wanted to start what I had in mind in another chapter, but didn't want to cut this one off too short, so I kind of… tried to extend it a bit. If it seems forced or choppy, just tell me and ill be sure to edit and smooth it out. Thanks guys.

-J

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